Interview with Jean-Denis Boivin, June 14, 2018

HAY: You can ignore the camera, and you can just talk to the two of us. Boivin?

BOIVIN: Yes.

HAY: Is that how you say it?

BOIVIN: Absolutely.

HAY: Okay. All right, we're rolling. Okay, um, today is June the fourteenth, 2018. We are in Montreal, at the Old Montreal Distillery, and this is the Old Montreal Distillery Oral History Project for the University of Kentucky's Nunn Center for Oral History. Um, we're interviewing Jean-Denis Boivin, who is the master distiller here at Old Montreal Distillery for the Sazerac du Canada Company. Interviewing is myself, Joanna Hay, and--

MAYVILLE: Drew. Drew Mayville.

HAY: --Drew Mayville, who is the master blender--

MAYVILLE: Right.

HAY: --for Sazerac.

MAYVILLE: Correct.

HAY: Yeah. Um, so, I guess to start, and I know, I'm just going to mention, as we start this interview, that part of this is going to be in French, which is Jean-Denis' native language, and then he's also going to help us with some English, uh, repetition of the--to help us out.

Uh, so, Jean-Denis, you're welcome to answer in French. Got lots of doors. Um, so, tell us, where, where did you grow up? Where, where are you from? And tell us about your family. BOIVIN: En fait, je viens d'une petite ville, une petite région au nord de Montréal, euh, à cinq cent kilomètres de Montréal qui s'appelle Saguenay. Donc, euh, j'ai, euh, grandi là avec mes parents, euh, ma sœur et puis, euh, j'ai, j'ai quitté à l'âge de dix-huit ans pour les études. Euh, maintenant, euh, ma famille immédiate, euh, j'ai ma, 00:02:00ma conjointe et puis une petite fille de trois ans et demi qui s'appelle--non, s--sorry, I just want to say the name of my daughter, and I just--

HAY: Yeah, yeah, do--no, no, yeah, tell us.

BOIVIN: --no, I just want to, my girlfriend asked me just to not name my daughter or--and just, uh, sorry about that--

HAY: Mhm

BOIVIN: Euh, alors, euh, j'ai, c'est, je vis ici à Montréal, à Laval, avec ma conjointe et ma fille de trois ans et nous allons avoir également une, euh, un nouveau arrivé dans la famille, donc un bébé qui s'en vient pour le début août. So, I was, uh, talking about, uh, my, where I grew up. So, I grew up in a small area north of Montreal, around, uh, 500 kilometers from Montreal, named Saguenay. Uh, so I grew up there with my parents and my, um, sister 00:03:00and, um, left, uh, Saguenay around eighteen years old when I, uh, got to Sherbrooke, uh, for, uh, studies.

HAY: Where is Sherbrooke, and where, and what did you study? What were your studies?

BOIVIN: Sherbrooke is an eastern township near Montreal, around an hour and a half drive. Uh, I studied--I got a bachelor degree in Chemistry, um, so, uh, I studied there in Sherbrooke University.

HAY: And in French?

BOIVIN: Oui. Euh, donc, euh, j'ai étudié à l'Université de Sherbrooke où j'ai obtenu un baccalauréat en chimie. Euh, donc j'ai étudié là-bas pendant quatre ans et j'ai terminé mon baccalauréat en 2000 et, euh, c'était--

HAY: Okay. Lots of noise. Are we okay on, on the, uh, sound, Drew? Do we need to take a pause?

MAYVILLE: Cough, I'm fine.

HAY: Do you need a--

MAYVILLE: I turned, uh--I turned my mic off.

HAY: Okay, good.

MAYVILLE: Excuse me.

HAY: We're taking a little coughing break. Are you okay with water? You can take a sip of water whenever you want to--

BOIVIN: Yeah.

HAY: --Jean-Denis, feel free. So, um, you study at, at college, um, your degree was in--

BOIVIN: Chemistry.

HAY: In Chemistry.

BOIVIN: Yeah.

HAY: Did--when you were young, in high school, did you already have interest in science and chemistry, and did you imagine that you would become a distiller?

BOIVIN: Uh, never imagined that I would become a distiller, but I was--science was what I really liked to study, uh, even in high school. So, always really liked science at that time, so, uh. Non, j'ai jamais pensé que je deviendrais un jour distilleur, ou distillateur, um, euh--quand j'étais au 00:05:00secondaire, j'appréciais beaucoup les sciences, la chimie, la physique, mais jamais j'ai pensé que je pourrais, euh, devenir, euh, distilleur à ce moment-là.

HAY: Your family, your parents--did anyone have a science background? What did your, what kind of work did your parents do?

BOIVIN: Absolutely not. My father work at--in an aluminum plant as a supervisor there, and my mother stay at home with us, so, uh, no, there was not any science background in the family, so.

Non, mon père, euh, travaillait dans le domaine de l'aluminium et ma mère restait à la maison avec nous, donc, euh, pas personne avait nécessairement d'intérêt pour les sciences, puis même moi, j'ai quand même développé cet intérêt.

HAY: So, after you graduated from university, where did you go next 00:06:00and how did you get started in, in the industry?

BOIVIN: Yeah, first of all, I get, um, a supervisor, production supervisor in the plastic industry, so I've been there in eastern township for a couple of years. After that, I was, uh, I was, uh, searching for more Montreal-area jobs, so I work for a couple of years in the, uh, pharmaceutical industry, uh, as production supervisor.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: And in 2004, I, uh, apply for a job at, uh, Schenley Distilleries and that's where I begin to work in the, uh, distilled spirit industries. So, uh, since 2004, so it's been around fourteen, fifteen years I am [in] the industry.

HAY: And a little of that in French?

BOIVIN: Oui, alors, euh, j'ai --um--tout de suite après mon 00:07:00baccalauréat, j'ai débuté, euh, à travailler dans une usine de plastique comme superviseur de production, euh, pour, euh, une durée de deux ans. Eh, ensuite de ça, euh, j'ai travaillé dans l'industrie pharmaceutique plus dans la région de Montréal, euh, pour également un autre deux ans avant de, d'appliquer pour un travail chez les distilleries Schenley, euh, où j'ai débuté ma carrière dans l'industrie des breuvages.

HAY: Yeah.

MAYVILLE: So, when you worked at Schenley, did you ever dream you would become a master distiller, did you ever think about that?

BOIVIN: At that time, not really.

MAYVILLE: Yeah.

BOIVIN: Um, probably that dream or that, um, career that I would like to, to get, is from Sazerac, so with all the things, all the projects that happen here, so it give me the opportunity to, to get there, so I wasn't thinking 00:08:00about that back at--in the days at Schenley.

MAYVILLE: Yup.

HAY: Yeah. All of that in French as well.

BOIVIN: Oui, alors, euh, non, pas vraiment, quand j'étais, euh, chez les distilleries Schenley, c'est pas quelque chose que je pensais devenir maître distillateur nécessairement, euh, donc c'est vraiment en commençant ici chez Sazerac, avec tous les projets et toutes les opportunités qu'on a eu dans les dernières années, que j'ai pu voir, euh, l'opportunité de cette carrière-là.

MAYVILLE: Um-hmm.

HAY: Yeah. So, that brings us here, to Sazerac.

BOIVIN: Yeah.

HAY: So talk, can you talk about what happened when you arrived here, and what your career has been like so far here at Sazerac?

BOIVIN: Yeah, so, uh, I'm, I'm here since 2010, so, like I said and in end of 2011, Sazerac bought the plant here in Montreal. So, after that 00:09:00things going real fast and there is a lot of projects, uh, coming down and a lot of opportunities. More production, more cases, more volumes and also a brand-new distillery since six months.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, um, oui, euh, quand je suis arrivé ici en 2010, euh, chez Sazerac du Canada, euh, j'ai, euh, j'ai commencé à avoir énormément de potentiel et d'opportunités. Euh, au départ, je travaillais plus, euh, au niveau, euh, du, de la salle des mélanges, et puis, euh, depuis que Sazerac a acheté, il y a eu énormément de projets, d'opportunités qui sont arrivées, pour nous amener, euh, maintenant, avec une toute nouvelle distillerie qui vient d'ouvrir ses portes il y a, environ, six mois.

HAY: Yup. Um, what--I was going to ask something about the still, 00:10:00unless you have a--

MAYVILLE: No, uh, that's okay.

HAY: The still. So, you have this new still here. What has the last, um, six months been like, since this new still was installed and, and you and Drew have been dreaming up, or Drew and you have been having conversations about what you want to produce here. Can you talk about this experience of starting up a new still?

BOIVIN: Yeah. At the beginning, uh, maybe, uh, we were a little bit lucky and we work hard, probably, because, uh, at the beginning, we start with a product that seems to be good, that seems to be great, so we were so happy about that. So, with Drew and other people--uh, other part of the team as Harlen [Wheatley], so we've got a lot of knowledge and a lot of help to get the still running. So, first two months wasn't so easy, uh, but when we, uh, continue to fix 00:11:00those issues, um, now, since probably March, we are fully, uh, operated. So, uh, it's been very well, so we are in operation five days a week, uh, and producing every day.

HAY: Can you say some of that in French as well? And then I have a Harlen question.

BOIVIN: Oui. Bien sûr, euh, depuis le début janvier, euh, avec l'aide de Drew et aussi de Harlen et de toute l'équipe de Sazerac et de Buffalo Trace, on en est venus à partir la nouvelle distillerie, et la nouvelle colonne. Donc, euh, on est en opération depuis le début janvier. Euh, ça a très bien été au niveau de la qualité du produit. On est très contents, on est très satisfaits de la qualité du produit. On a eu à vivre, bien sûr, des petites 00:12:00problématiques qu'on a dû régler dans les premiers mois d'opération, mais maintenant depuis, je dirais, le mois de mars, euh, on est en opération complète, cinq jours semaine et puis la production va très bien.

HAY: So, we visited here in March, and Harlen was here at the same time we were here. So, I saw the two of you working together. What has that been like, working with Harlen Wheatley, as you get this still up and running?

BOIVIN: At the beginning, uh, to be honest, I was a little bit impressed by Harlen. So, we've got a lot of experience, as Drew, and a lot of expertise, so, uh, at the beginning it was so, so cool, so nice to have Harlen with us. So, I studied Chemistry, so I know about the basics, but have the real feeling of the still and be able to say, "Okay, that, that thing's happened because 00:13:00of that," and Harlen was so, uh, so, so good with us when we start the still and he's always there when we asking question and same thing with Drew, so it's really appreciate[d].

HAY: That's good.

BOIVIN: Alors, oui, um, depuis que, qu'on a parti la nouvelle distillerie, on a eu beaucoup d'aide au niveau de l'équipe de Sazerac, qui a énormément d'expertise, énormément d'expérience, donc Harlen a été d'une aide très précieuse avec toute son expérience. Euh, surtout avec le fait que opérer une colonne à distiller, c'est pas nécessairement aussi facile que dans la théorie, donc, souvent, on a les bases théoriques, mais avec Harlen, on en est vraiment venus à pouvoir opérer la colonne, euh, de bonne façon. Euh, puis, il a été d'un grand aide là-dessus, de même qu'avec Drew, qui est toujours là, euh, pour nous, euh, aider et qui est de précieux conseil.

HAY: So, earlier, you mentioned, um, that a lot changed when Sazerac bought this distillery. What is it like, working for Sazerac? What, what, uh, what's the biggest change since Sazerac?

BOIVIN: I think Sazerac is a great organization. Uh, for sure, the biggest change that we, uh, we saw at that time is really about investment, volumes. So, they gives us all that we need to get there and to improve volumes, production, quality, so, for that, it's been a real good change for us, uh, in 2011. Alors, euh, oui, effectivement, euh, Sazerac est une très bonne organisation, euh, pour, de, de ce côté-là, on a eu toutes les chances, toutes les 00:15:00investissements possibles pour réussir les nouveaux départements, pour avoir plus de volumes. Même chose avec la nouvelle distillerie, donc c'est le plus gros changement que je peux voir qui est arrivé depuis qu'on a été achetés par Sazerac. Euh, c'est tous les investissements et toute le support que la compagnie nous a donnés.

HAY: So, Drew is sitting here, and I'm going to ask what it's like, what you two talk about as you plan for new products, with the experimentation and the innovation in mind. What, what do you two, how do you two talk and plan, as the master distiller and the blender?

BOIVIN: So, for now, for sure, I, I take everything from Drew, from the experience, the expertise of Drew, so, all about the new recipes, new experimentals that we could try, so, for sure Drew is a mentor, uh, 00:16:00on that subject. So, uh, we'll try to get together and we have some ideas, and some new way to try and have the Montreal taste and the Montreal touch, uh, here in the Sazerac family.

MAYVILLE: As a matter of fact--[clears throat]--excuse me--when we just, when we just came the other day, Denis, Jean-Denis and I were in the conference room and we were talking about what we want to try for experiments. It's not always formal, even though we're going to have a meeting next week talking about this very specifically, but it's about this conversation that's ongoing anytime that we're together that we want to try different things. So, he has his ow--list already, that he's got in his mind, and we just collaborate on that.

HAY: Yup.

MAYVILLE: Yes.

HAY: Okay.

BOIVIN: Alors oui, comme j'expliquais, euh, c'est certain qu'avoir Drew euh, dans l'équipe avec toute son expérience, euh, au niveau des 00:17:00essais expérimentaux qu'on veut faire, Drew est un, c'est certain, un mentor de ce côté-là, donc nous avons des discussions évidemment ensemble de parler de qu'est-ce qui pourrait être fait, pour donner à l'usine ici de Montréal sa touche vraiment personnelle dans la famille Sazerac.

HAY: Yeah. Anything you want to ask him about, about what's happening now with the, um, with the still, or--

MAYVILLE: Sure. So when you, um, look at what you're doing now, how do you view the mash bills now that we're making? Is it, uh, you know-- I know it's something you haven't seen before, so now everything basically is new and experimental, in a sense. How do you view that, and what do you expect in the future for those to look like, those whiskies?

BOIVIN: So, for now, as you said, everything is an experiment. So, 00:18:00for sure, every mash bill's got some different touch, some different things that we see in distillation, that we see in cooking process, but, for me, the next steps will be to consolidate that and, after that, get over and try new mash bills, new grain or what we will decide to--to try together.

MAYVILLE: Is that fun for you?

BOIVIN: Absolutely.

MAYVILLE: (laughs)

BOIVIN: Absolutely.

MAYVILLE: I can tell.

BOIVIN: Absolutely. And when, when you, you've got a career sometimes, it's not every day that we can say that we have fun going to work, but now and for sure with the new distillery--the Old Montreal Distillery--yes, that's really fun to, uh, get those challenges and those things.

HAY: It sounds like it's challenging, too.

BOIVIN: Yeah, absolutely.

HAY: Difficult.

BOIVIN: Absolutely.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: And in French, maybe? Euh, présentement, on est à comprendre et on est à un petit peu, euh, um, travailler avec chacune de ces recettes-là, dans le but, certainement, de faire d'autres essais, essayer une nouvelle recette puis, encore une fois, avec l'aide de Drew, puis avec l'aide de toute l'équipe de Sazerac, donner un, à Montréal et à la distillerie du Vieux-Montréal, euh, euh, toutes ses, euh, sa touche Québécoise.

MAYVILLE: So. So, based on your experience at Schenley Distillery, and if you compare that against what you do here in the distillery, what would you say is the major difference, or is there difference between the two?

BOIVIN: When I was, uh, at Schenley Distilleries, it was really more, um, cooking process, and it was, uh, a pressurized cooker, so--and it was 00:20:00big volumes too, so it was mass production. So, the thing I think it could be different is more the artistry that we want to give here to all the whiskies that we--we want to make. So, it's the craft distilling that we made that I found is different.

MAYVILLE: Biggest difference, yeah.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, comme je disais à Drew, euh, ce que je trouve, euh, différent entre peut-être travailler dans une grande distillerie comme Schenley à l'époque, versus maintenant être ici à la distillerie du Vieux-Montréal, c'est vraiment au niveau de la, si on veut, la touche artistique qu'on peut amener ici parce qu'on fait de petites cuissons, de petites batches qu'on met en baril. Donc, c'est plus au niveau de, euh, micro-distillation versus la distillation plus de masse.

MAYVILLE: Yeah, good.

HAY: Very nice. I'm was gonna go back and ask a little bit about, um, the Seagram connection. The name of the still is Mister Sam, which is a Seagram reference. Can you talk about the influence of the Seagram Company on this distillery and why we've named this Mister Sam?

BOIVIN: Um, as, as we talked earlier, I think, first of all, Mister Sam, I think, is a perfect name for that still, so it's showing us the past and the history and what we want to get in the future, so I think it's a good line, a good bound, to get that name Mister Sam for the still. So, and here in Montreal and here in Quebec, um, the, Seagram, again, is one of the most 00:22:00important, uh, distilled spirit company that have ever been operated, so, uh, we are, uh, always every day, um, uh, asked, people ask us, uh, "Do you work at Seagram?" So, Seagram is in the Quebecers and the Montrealers, in their mind, and their souvenirs, so that's great, great things to get the still--uh--named Mister Sam.

HAY: And who here worked for Seagram? I think, Drew. Can you name the others who worked for Seagram?

BOIVIN: Yeah, I--there's Gerry Cristiano, our plant manager. There's Tino Symboli (??), uh, manager for all the warehousing and planification, um, and we've got Guy Lavigne too who is maintenance manager, so we've got a lot of--

MAYVILLE: And Marc. Marc Dumesnil--

BOIVIN: Yeah, we've got Marc now, who is new with us----who is quality 00:23:00manager. So, practically more than fifty percent of the staff is--came from, come from Seagram, so--

HAY: Wow.

BOIVIN: --it's really important for us.

HAY: Now say it in French.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, en français, euh... C'est certain que le nom de notre colonne à distillation on a décidé d'appeller la colonne à distillation Mister Sam, donc pour nous, ici, la compagnie, puis pour toute l'histoire du whisky canadien ici à Montréal, c'était pour moi un nom qui, euh, qui allait de soi, pour notre colonne à distillation, à cause de toute, euh, l'histoire qu'il y a derrière Seagram, et derrière la famille Bronfman. So, ça allait de soi de nommer notre colonne à distiller Mister Sam. Alors, ça nous démontre en plus de toute l'histoire qui s'est bâtie à Montréal autour du whisky canadien et de l'industrie du whisky canadien, euh, qu'on veut, nous, 00:24:00suivre ça pour créer, euh, des produits, euh, intéressants et qui vont être appréciés par les fins connaisseurs de whisky.

HAY: Yeah. And the names of, listing the names of--

BOIVIN: Oui, alors, euh, même ici, à l'usine de Montréal, um, on a, um, une majorité de gens, euh, qui travaillent [clears throat] dans notre staff qui vient de la compagnie Seagram également, donc on a Gerry Christiano, qui est notre directeur général, Tino Symboli également, Guy Lavigne, Marc Dumesnil, qui sont, eux aussi, des directeurs de département. Donc, euh, Seagram est encore une fois bien ancré, ici à Montréal, et bien ancré dans notre, euh, distillerie du Vieux-Montréal.

MAYVILLE: That's great.

HAY: I was going to then switch to--let's do this let's talk about 00:25:00the process.

MAYVILLE: [Clears throat] Okay.

HAY: So, one of the things now that you're going to have a visitor center, um, we want people to unders--help--we want to help people understand the process of making whisky, here at the distillery. Um, can you des--can you describe the steps of the process, starting with, starting with, um, the mash bills and the conve--

MAYVILLE: The grains.

HAY: --the grains, and talking with Drew. So, just talk us through the whole process.

BOIVIN: For sure.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: So, as you, as you know, we start with the grain selection. So, we've got some mash bills that we are working with. Uh, we select the grains that we need, uh, to cook, uh, it could be a mash bill with only one type of 00:26:00grain or it will be a, uh, several grains mash bill. So, uh, we are, um, working with Drew and with the, the team to get our mash bills, select the grain and after that, it's the cooking process. So, we mill that grain and cook it, um, to, uh, ready for the fermentation.

HAY: Mhm.

BOIVIN: So, after that--sorry--[clears throat]--I'll just get a--

HAY: We can edit all of this, don't worry. (laughs)

BOIVIN: I restart from fresh, or--

HAY: No, start with the, um, the cooking. When--we were just shifting to fermenting. The cooking and fermenting.

BOIVIN: Yeah. So, um, so we are cook the grain. After that, we'll get 00:27:00to the fermentation. Fermentation will take place for around three to five days, uh, depending of what we need, what our needs. And we used yeast, so, uh, for the fermentation, to get the sugar, the fermented sugar transfer into the alcohol. So, uh, after that, after three to five days, we will take the fermenter and we will transfer it in, uh, a beer well. So, from that beer well, we are ready to, uh, the distillation to take place. So, from the beer well, we will run the still to empty all the, the, the beer well, and distill it, ready to put it in barrels and in the warehouse and start the aging.

HAY: How long, um, can you talk about the--what you age it in and how long the aging process is? You talk about barrels or small wood, I think. I love that, "small wood."

BOIVIN: Yeah, small wood because we are talking about barrels and no big tanks or other things, so small woods refer to barrels or smaller, I think.

HAY: Do you sometimes use--tell me about both the column still and the pot still. Do you use one? Both? How do you--do you use a combination?

BOIVIN: For now, we use both, but there's a bunch of tests and experiments that we could make to used it, uh, separately, uh, but for now we are using both.

HAY: Okay. So, do you want to tell me all that in French?

BOIVIN: Yes.

HAY: (laughs)

BOIVIN: Alors, bien sûr--

HAY: Wait, hang on a second. This is where--

UNKNOWN: I'm listening.

HAY: Yeah, good.

UNKNOWN: It's just the pen in his hand sometimes it comes up into the frame.

HAY: Oh, your pe--[pen]. Yeah, okay.

UNKNOWN: So sorry about that.

HAY: Okay.

BOIVIN: It will not happen again.

HAY: So the process, the process in French.

BOIVIN: Oui, [clears throat] donc, la première étape pour nous, euh, pour, euh, créer les recettes sont le choix des grains. Donc, on utilise, euh, quatre types de grains, qui sont le maïs, le seigle, l'orge ainsi que le blé. Euh, on va utiliser, euh, soit un assemblage de différents grains, ou on peut utiliser également un seul grain pour faire les différents whiskies. Donc, à partir de là, ce qu'on va faire, c'est qu'on va effectuer la cuisson. Donc, la cuisson, euh, on va moudre le grain, on va faire une farine avec le grain et effectuer la cuisson dans un cuiseur. Euh, suite à ça, on va transférer le 00:30:00cuiseur dans une cuve de fermentation en présence de levure. Euh, ce que la levure va faire, c'est qu'elle va transférer les sucres fermentables en alcool sur une période d'environ trois à cinq jours pour être complétée, euh, et à partir de ce moment-là, on va être prêt à transférer la cuve de fermentation dans ce qu'on appelle la cuve à bière, prêt pour effectuer la distillation. Donc, à partir de là, on va distiller le produit, obtenir un alcool à haute preuve, effectuer la mise en baril et amener dans l'entrepôt, prêt pour le vieillissement, [clears throat] on met les, euh, on met l'alcool dans des barils ce qu'on dit des petits contenants, donc ça implique des tonneaux ou des barils, mais on ne parle pas ici de vieillissement en cuve.

HAY: Okay, that was good. That was the full process?

UNKNOWN: Yeah, that was full process. He--he--uh---corrected himself 00:31:00at the end by explaining why it's in smaller barrels-- [??]

BOIVIN: Yeah.

UNKNOWN: --rather than the other parts, so he covered everything that he mentioned in the other parts.

HAY: I think that, I think that gives us everything.

UNKNOWN: It gives you everything on it.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: I can say it again, if you want.

UNKNOWN: No, and he also added the other parts where he sort of explained all the different types of grains, which were not in the English part.

HAY: I caught that, yeah.

UNKNOWN: So, that part sort of--he was a bit more complicit and complete in his answer.

HAY: That's good. Um, did you talk about the two--the pot still--the combination of the two, the--

BOIVIN: Non. Alors, euh, en tant qu'équipement, on a une colonne à distillation et également, on a un alambic de type <>. Les deux peuvent fonctionner de façon ensemble et peuvent fonctionner également séparés. Donc, présentement, on les utilise ensemble pour créer notre whisky et faire la mise en baril, mais on pourrait les utiliser également de façon séparée.

HAY: Good. Very nice, thank you. So are you ready for all of the 00:32:00visitors and the tourists and the media questions that the American blenders and master distillers are getting used to?

BOIVIN: Yes, yes, for sure.

MAYVILLE: I don't buy that.

BOIVIN: [laughs] No, let's say that we are working now to be ready for visitors because we need to work a little bit on the visual effect of the new distillery. So, next month we'll need to get some proper shutdowns to be able to get it nicer--get a good visual effect. And after that, we should be ready to get the visitors.

HAY: Good. Yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, um, euh, bien sûr, on a, euh. --avant de recevoir des 00:33:00visiteurs, on peut dire qu'on a encore un petit peu de travail à faire pour rendre vraiment la distillerie du Vieux-Montréal, disons, prête et visuellement belle et prête à recevoir les visiteurs. Donc, ce qu'on veut pour les visiteurs, c'est une expérience où ils vont pouvoir déguster, également avoir un, une boutique cadeau et vraiment avoir un beau, euh, tour, euh, pour les visiteurs.

HAY: Yeah, the scientist has to also be a performer--[laughs].

MAYVILLE: Yes.

BOIVIN: Yeah.

HAY: What do you want people to--who visit here to leave understanding about your industry and what you do here? Or understanding about Canadian whisky?

BOIVIN: I think all the history part. So, sometimes, we are always talking about scotch or

bourbons, I think we've got good products and good history too. So, I 00:34:00think for that, and just to be able to say, "Okay, there's some steps that I learn, that I see, so it's important," so it's a good experience for the visitors, and I want them to get out of here with more, uh, knowledge and more, and have, uh, taste to, uh, to, uh, come again and talk about our products, and all those things.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, oui, effectivement, ce qu'on veut pour, euh, pour les visiteurs, euh, c'est vraiment, euh, d'avoir, euh, une expérience en soi. Donc, non seulement être en mesure, euh, de déguster nos produits pour les faire connaître, mais également mieux connaître un petit peu le procédé de distillation pour, euh, quand les gens sortent, euh, de la 00:35:00distillerie du Vieux-Montréal, ils sont en mesure de parler des différentes étapes, et puis aussi, euh, de parler à toute leur entourage de l'expérience qu'ils ont vécu, euh, ici.

HAY: Yeah. They're actually, the visitors are going to do tastings as well. They'll be able to sample the product. Have, do, have you seen that many times in Canadian distilleries or is this, is this new, for Canadian distilleries to have the tourism in tasting?

BOIVIN: I think there's probably some in other provinces. Uh, never see that in Quebec, uh, but probably it's happened, but never, uh, never seen that.

HAY: Do you like the idea of them being able to see the process and then taste the--

BOIVIN: Absolutely. Absolutely. It has to be, and I think people 00:36:00wants to see different grains. They want to see every step of the way, uh, to get the entire experience too.

HAY: Mmm, yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, oui, bien sûr, um, au niveau de la dégustation. Donc, c'est très important pour nous, euh, justement de faire découvrir nos produits aux gens, qui peuvent déguster le produit, et aussi voir, euh, tous les étapes de la production, du grain, voir vraiment les différents types de grains jusqu'à l'alcool à haute preuve qu'on va mettre en baril et, éventuellement, euh, les whiskies qu'on aura à faire déguster.

MAYVILLE: So, what kind of whiskey do you want to make here?

BOIVIN: I think the, the goal is to get some premium whiskies.

MAYVILLE: But different types of whiskies? I know premium is important--

BOIVIN: Yeah.

MAYVILLE: --but, what, you know, in terms of quality of the whisky.

BOIVIN: For sure, quality is the, the first thing, I think. For now, 00:37:00we just, um, taste high wines that we put in barrels, so we are, we know that we've got a good, good product for now. After that, I think we'll need to see how it will lend us in [a] few years, but, for me, uh, let's say that I would like to get different tastes, different type of whiskies and be able to blend different good combination.

MAYVILLE: Right.

HAY: Hmm.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, oui, pour répondre, euh, à la question de Drew. Euh, étant donné qu'on veut avoir quelque chose, des whiskies de type premium, mais également on a plusieurs recettes différentes, euh, présentement qui vont vieillir, pour nous amener à des mélanges et des whiskies qui vont être, euh, hauts de gamme et qui vont aller chercher vraiment une touche ici, 00:38:00euh, à Montréal.

HAY: I'm going to look. We're just going to think about what questions we've missed, what additional questions, and then I was going to ask him that at the end. Let's pause for a moment-

-(claps)--Okay, we're back, and I wanted to ask you about the barrel. Can you explain why--what happens in the barrel, and the types of barrels you use?

BOIVIN: For sure, uh. So, uh, we will use--used and new barrels, so every mash bills could be combination of new and used, so we will have different aging, uh, in each type of barrels and we should be able to get some different 00:39:00whiskies too. So, uh, the whisky will not respond, uh, in the same way if it's a brand-new barrel versus an old barrel, a used, a used barrel.

HAY: Yeah--[claps]--So, we were, you were going to tell us about a little bit about the barrels and the process of that.

BOIVIN: For sure. At the beginning, we've got the distillate, after the distillation, so when we will put it in barrels, there will be interaction between the wood and the distillate. So, with the time, and with the aging, there will be the whisky coming with that interaction. So the, the wood will, will give to the, the distillate the taste and will become a whisky.

HAY: Okay.

MAYVILLE: Excellent.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, ce qu'on, ce qu'on fait c'est qu'on suite à la 00:40:00distillation, on obtient le distillat, qu'on va mettre en baril. Alors l'interaction entre le baril et le distillat, au fil des années, va nous donner le whisky. Donc, euh, c'est vraiment le distillat qui va chercher des saveurs, des congénaires, dans le bois, pour créer le whisky.

HAY: So, I have heard--I think Art said it yesterday and maybe I'd read it--maybe Mister Sam said this, that the, the distilling is the science and the blending is the art, and we are talking about the art of this whole process. When you--how do you think about your job as an, as sort of an ar-- you have, um, sort of the artistry of your work. Do you want to talk about the artistry of your work?

BOIVIN: As we, as we talked earlier, there's a crafting, craft 00:41:00distilling that we are making here. So, for me, just to be here and play with the barrels and some small batches, and different mash bills and try to, uh, understand and try to see what it will be in [a] few years and take a part of, of mash bill and blend with another part of another mash bill, so it's quite interesting and exciting. Alors, um, bien sûr, euh, au niveau de l'art, si on veut, d'assembler les whiskies, donc c'est très excitant pour nous, c'est certain. Mais on sait que, d'ici quelques années, euh, on va avoir différents whiskies, vieillis de différentes façons et vraiment, euh, au niveau de la micro-distillation et des mélanges qu'on va pouvoir faire avec ces différents whiskies, on est très excités au niveau de ce que ça va donner 00:42:00comme, euh, art et comme nouveau whisky et comme arôme qu'on va donner ici à nos whiskies.

HAY: Yeah. What, uh--yeah, that's you.

MAYVILLE: That's me?

HAY: Mhm.

MAYVILLE: So, I have a two-pronged question. Um, what do you see of the--as the future of Canadian whisky, not just in Canada, but all around the world? And then the second part of the question is: how do you feel you fit into that role, of making these whiskies for the future? How would you, how would you envision your role and that, in doing that, actually, so.

BOIVIN: I think Canadian whiskies, uh, will be and are now, I, I think, better and better, and we've got more, more, um let's say, um, uh, exposure and with--sorry, I le--

MAYVILLE: That's alright.

BOIVIN: Yeah--um, so, uh, to answer your first question, I think Canadian whiskies are for sure a different type of whisky, but they are great. Uh, we can make good, great whiskies, um, in the future. I would like to be a part of that for sure. I see me in [a] few years in a lot of years work, probably not with you, Drew, but uh, for a couple of years, uh--(laughs)--but I would like to see me here, uh, try to find some new way to distill, new way to make good whiskies and just give an experience to the people who will taste it, and be proud of that project and be proud of what we, uh, made here.

HAY: Yeah.

BOIVIN: Alors, alors, comme je disais à Drew, c'est certain que, um, au niveau des whiskies canadiens, je crois, euh, dans le marché, c'est certain qu'on peut parler de scotch, on peut parler de bourbon. Je crois que le whisky canadien a une très belle place maintenant, euh, dans le marché, que ce soit au Canada, puis j'espère à travers le monde de plus en plus. Euh, c'est très intéressant pour moi, c'est très intéressant pour l'équipe, pour nous ici, de travailler sur ce projet, puis on se voit très bien dans plusieurs années encore travailler dans d'autres entrepôts--parce qu'on va avoir encore plus de barils--et puis travailler à créer de nouveaux whiskies et emmener l'art de ce whisky-là à, à, à nos consommateurs ou aux amateurs de whisky, euh, pour que tout le monde puisse en bénéficier.

HAY: Very nice. Um--

MAYVILLE: I'll--

HAY: You good?

MAYVILLE: --yeah.

HAY: Do you have any--this is sort of a concluding question, I think 00:45:00this might be our last question, um, do you have any stories, um--well, before I ask that question, is there anything you wanted to say that I didn't think to ask you in this interview?

BOIVIN: I would just want to, uh, to, um, to say thank you to Drew, to all of you, all the crew, and, uh, all people, Harlen, all the team that, uh, help us in the past six months to get here today, to, uh, get distillation running, and we've got some great stuff coming, so thank you all.

MAYVILLE: You're welcome.

BOIVIN: Alors j'aimerais remercier, euh, Drew qui est ici aujourd'hui, euh, avec vous, et également toute l'équipe, Harlen et toute son équipe de Buffalo Trace qui nous ont grandement aidés, en tant qu'équipe, à pouvoir, 00:46:00euh, um, commencer ce projet très intéressant de distillation ici à Montréal et puis, euh, je voulais tout simplement remercier tout le monde, euh, pour ça et puis on espère, euh, enfin avoir une bonne continuité avec, euh, ce beau projet.

HAY: So, my final question is, are there, do you have any funny stor--any, any stories of some of the challenges perhaps of some of the last few years here at the distillery, anything you wanted, any story you want to tell about this change? Either funny or not funny, I just wondered if there was any story that came to mind of something that might have happened.

BOIVIN: We'll try. I don't know if I can say, if I can say it, but I will try. Um, three years ago, it was only, uh, a project, so it wasn't so clear in our heads. Uh in the last six months, and let's say in January and last 00:47:00February, every morning at six in the morning, I called the maintenance manager, uh, to say, "This thing doesn't work, this thing doesn't work." And, every morning, he answered the phone and say, "Hi, sweetheart."

MAYVILLE: Hm hm.

BOIVIN: And it's a running gag now, so when we call each other, it's, "Hi, sweetheart, how are you?"

HAY: (laughs)--So good.

BOIVIN: Alors, euh, c'était la, la petite anecdote que je voulais raconter, alors, c'est certain que le projet, il y a trois ans, c'était un projet un petit peu vaste, un petit peu, euh, qui manquait d'un petit peu de, de clarté, dans le sens que on n'y était pas rendus. Mais maintenant qu'on est rendus, euh, en opération, je peux dire que, au début, dans les premiers mois d'opération en janvier et en février, euh, j'avais des appels chaque matin à six heures. Euh, j'appelais le directeur de la maintenance pour me, 00:48:00me plaindre, un petit peu, de toutes les choses qui devaient être euh, euh, arrangées, ou qui devaient être réparées, euh, ces journées-là. Et le directeur de la maintenance, à tous les matins à six heures, qui me répondait, il me disait, "Oui, chérie, qu'est-ce qui, qu'est-ce qui ne va pas ce matin?" Alors, euh, c'est la petite anecdote que maintenant on se parle, on s'appelle au téléphone et on dit, "Allô chérie, comment vas-tu?"

MAYVILLE: Mhm.

HAY: Sort of like they're--you're all a family--(laughs).

BOIVIN: Yeah.

MAYVILLE: Yeah.

HAY: Well, thank you so much for this interview and, um, I'll look forward to talking to you some more.

BOIVIN: Thank you very much. Merci.

HAY: Thank you.

[End of interview.]